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Lagace gets first NHL win, Golden Knights defeat Senators

Goalie makes 24 saves; Haula, Marchessault each has three points in victory

by
Chris Stevenson
/ NHL.com Correspondent

OTTAWA -- Maxime Lagace made 24 saves for his first NHL win when the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-4 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

The Golden Knights (9-4-0) had lost three in a row. Erik Haula (two goals, one assist) and Jonathan Marchessault (one goal, two assists) each had three points, and Alex Tuch and William Karlsson scored for Vegas.

The Golden Knights matched the NHL record, tying the 1917-18 Montreal Canadiens, for the fewest games to win their ninth game of their first season.

Mark Stone, Alexandre Burrows, Ryan Dzingel and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators (6-3-5), and Craig Anderson made 29 saves. The Senators are 3-3-4 at home.

Lagace, 24, started his third consecutive game and became the fourth Golden Knights goaltender with a victory this season. Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Malcolm Subban (lower body) and Oscar Dansk (lower body) also have won a game for Vegas.

"It's good to have that first one, finally," Lagace said. "The guys played really well tonight. I have them to thank for that win. On to the next one."

The Golden Knights had a 5-2 lead but Dzingel scored at 7:52 of the third and Karlsson scored with 34 seconds left and Anderson pulled for an extra attacker to make it 5-4.

"I got nervous a little bit, but not nervous to the point where it could have affected my game," Lagace said. "I think they came back right away with a tip and I got just a little piece of it. That scared me a little bit, but we got [the win], so it's all good."

Haula said Lagace has done an admirable job in tough circumstances.

"Good for him, good for us," Haula said. "I feel like it was kind of a relief for him. Last game I thought he played really well. He's coming into the League and it's not an easy spot, we're three goaltenders down. I feel like he's been playing as well as he can, we just haven't [gotten] the result."

The Golden Knights led 1-0 on a power-play goal by Tuch at 4:25 of the first period. Stone tied it at 1-1 21 seconds into the second.

Haula gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead at 4:17 of the second, and Burrows tied the game 2-2 at 7:12 when his wraparound attempt went under Lagace's left pad. Vegas coach Gerard Gallant challenged the call for goaltender interference but it was upheld.

The Golden Knights went ahead 3-2 at 12:39 of the second period when Marchessault scored a power-play goal. William Karlsson made it 4-2 at 3:29 of the third period on a wraparound.

Haula scored the third power-play goal for the Golden Knights at 6:47 of the third to make it 5-2.

"It's exactly what we were expecting," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "It's the hardest working team we've seen up to now. It's hard to get through them."

Stone said, "They're in your face all the time. When you don't move the puck quick, they force a ton of turnovers. That's what you saw most of the night. [They] drew a lot of penalties off that and a couple of goals that killed us off it."

The Golden Knights power play, ranked 29th on the road coming into the game (2-for-22, 9.1 percent), was 3-for-5, and Haula's first goal came three seconds after a penalty to Senators forward Zack Smith expired.

Highlight of the game

They said it

"All our guys worked really hard for 50 minutes, and then I think we thought we won the game and they let off a little bit. We've got to make sure we complete those games harder at the end." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant

"The fifth goal killed us, the fourth goal killed us a little bit too, takes away a lot of your momentum. The penalty kill wasn't great tonight. … it's a tough pill to swallow, but we have to bounce back." -- Senators forward Mark Stone

Need to know

The goal by Burrows was the 400th point of his NHL career. … Senators forward Zack Smith left the game in the third period with a lower-body injury. There was no update on his status.